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Wednesday, September 19, 2018

Peronism according to Kerry Bolton

Kerry Bolton is a controversial writer from New
Zealand, situated on the far right end of the political spectrum. He supports
the Axis in World War II, but also believes that the Soviet Union (especially
under Stalin) played a positive role in world politics. Bolton extends support
to Saddam's Iraq, Milosevic's Serbia, Gaddafi's Libya and (more surprisingly)
Venezuela under Hugo Chávez. The enemy is “demoliberalism”, globalism and the
Jews. I've previously reviewed Bolton's book “Stalin: The Enduring Legacy”.

“Perón and Perónism” is Bolton's take on General Juan Perón, President of
Argentina 1946-55 and 1973-74. While Perón is arguably the most important
character in Argentina's post-war history, he has been almost eclipsed in
popular memory and culture by his second wife, Eva Duarte or Eva Perón. Indeed,
there are probably more books about “Evita” than about her husband! The
organization founded by Perón as a vehicle for his politics, Partido
Justicialista, is still one of the largest political parties in Argentina.

While Perón's governments could be described as left-populist, his legacy also
contains far more problematic aspects. His attempts to counter British and
American influence in Argentina made him sympathetic to the Axis. Many notorious
Axis war criminals sought and got refuge in Perón's Argentina, including Josef
Mengele, Adolf Eichmann and Ustashe leader Ante Pavelic. When Perón was deposed
by a military coup in 1955, he fled to Spain, at the time still under control
of right-wing dictator Francisco Franco. Unsurprisingly, it's the combination
of left-populism and pro-fascism which makes Perón and Peronism of interest to
Bolton. I think he sees Perón as, at bottom, a fascist (in the “classical”
sense of that term).

I haven't double-checked Bolton's analysis of General Perón's political
philosophy, but if the author is right, then Perón could indeed be described as
fascist or fascist-inspired, at least as far as his personal convictions go.
There are also similarities between Perón's ideas and those of Catholic social
teaching. But then, the papacy was sympathetic to Mussolini's corporatism.
Argentina as a state never became fascist under Perón's leadership, instead
developing traits more similar to West European Social Democracy with strong
labor unions, a mixed economy and a welfare state. Perónista Argentina also
remained a parliamentary democracy. Still, Perón's private ideology or
strategic goals might have been different from his more pragmatic practice. I
admit that I found the author's arguments interesting!

According to Bolton, Perón rejected the French revolution and the
Enlightenment. Behind the rhetoric about liberty and equality, the revolution
had ushered in capitalism and the concomitant rule of the materialist-minded
bourgeoisie which “insectified” humans and tore apart the community. Perón
harked back to the Middle Ages, when society was organic and based on guilds of
professional artisans. His goal was to recreate such a society through
corporatism and national syndicalism, abolishing class struggle and political
parties in favor of national unity. Perón and/or his associates attacked usury,
the IMF, Masonry and Anglo-American imperialism, but also Marxism and the
Soviet bloc. Despite his seemingly ultra-conservative stances, Perón in
practice promoted the rapid industrialization and modernization of Argentina
through the medium of a strong state and powerful unions.

Bolton likes Perón's “third position” foreign policy, his collaboration with
former Nazis, and his conflicts with various Jewish groups. Despite his
nationalism, Perón wanted to transcend the nation-state and create powerful
continental blocs as a geopolitical counterweight to the USA and the USSR. For
this reason, Perón sought closer cooperation with Chile and Brazil (at the time
governed by Perón-like populists) as a first step towards a grand Latin
American alliance. Bolton speculates that the Argentine leader might have been
inspired by Oswald Mosley, the notorious British fascist who called for European
unity against both superpowers. Perón corresponded with Mosley, and the two men
met in person at least once during Perón's presidency. Bolton also claims that
Perón was a White supremacist, only allowed European immigration to Argentina,
and that he viewed Latin America as a cultural extension of Europe. For this
reason, an alliance between an independent Europe and a Latin American bloc
against the United States was logical. (It should be noted that Argentina has a
mostly White population, in contrast to most other Latin American nations.
Perón's statements sound logical from an Argentine perspective, but strangely
parochial when applied to the region as a whole!)

The author is a conspiracy theorist, and believes that Perón recognized the
conspiracy (the "synarchy"). To Bolton, liberal capitalism and
Communism are equally globalist and involved in a vast conspiracy against
nationalism everywhere. It's a fact that the Argentine Communist Party opposed
the Peronists, sometimes in alliance with liberal groups (probably due to
Perón's pro-Axis orientation). To Bolton, this proves the point. The author
further believes that the Montoneros, a left-Peronist urban guerilla group
during the 1970's, were really provocateurs who wanted to split the Peronist
movement on behalf of the plutocracy. He levels similar charges against the
ERP, a rural guerilla during the same period, which was originally Trotskyist.
In Bolton's mind, “Trotskyites” are, of course, Jew-controlled. While Bolton
opposes the notoriously repressive right-wing military regime which held power
in Argentina 1976-1983, due to its neo-liberal economic policies ordered by
Washington, he nevertheless accuses the leftist revolutionaries of having
provoked the coup through their terrorism.

Despite his anti-Communism, Bolton has a soft spot for Cuba, and even quotes
Perón's eulogy for Che Guevara. He also believes that Argentina was right to
establish diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, and calls Venezuela's
Hugo Chávez “a Peronist”. As already noted, Bolton views the Soviet bloc
(post-Lenin) as a counterweight to world plutocracy. I think he sees Cuba, but
particularly Venezuela, as at bottom nationalist rather than Communist. This
“Red-Brown Bloc” perspective might make Bolton controversial among more
traditional right-wingers, but it's a common line in many East European nations
as we speak.

“Perón and Perónism” is an interesting book, but it's too long and repetitive.
It could have need a better editor. It's also a book which may tell us just as much,
or even more, about the author than it does about General Juan Domingo Perón…